Pruett's Pause: WWE Raw - Why didn't John Cena show up until three hours into the show, C.M. Punk is assigned No. 1 in the Rumble, Daniel Bryan gets a chance to talk and it goes well, Batista returns, and more!Jan 21, 2014 - 12:45 PM

By Will Pruett

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When you work on a show, there is a call time. This is the moment when you are supposed to arrive at the theater or arena the show is taking place in. I've worked on shows with fairly high profile people in them. I know how to deal with celebrity types pulling the diva card. I have no idea how anyone could deal with John Cena's awful display of tardiness on Raw.

John Cena's job is to get to the arena before the show even begins. People expect him to be there. The show is structured around everyone being in the back preparing for their moment. Where was John Cena? Why wasn't he around?

Did John not care about the fantastic six man tag from Goldust, Cody Rhodes, Big E. Langston, and The Shield? What about Daniel Bryan's explanation? Shouldn't John Cena have a little bit of curiosity where his almost brother-in-law type of guy is concerned? Did John Cena even want to welcome back Batista and his exceptionally tight pants? It's like he didn't care about any of them?

The larger issue? Why did John Cena randomly run down to the ring and interrupt a match? Did he know Randy Orton was in the ring? What about Kofi Kingston? Kofi lost his match against Orton because Cena interrupted. That costs Kingston money. I hope John Cena plans to pay Kofi what the winner's purse for this match would have been.

I'm convinced that John Cena was busy putting the finishing touches on his sweet new neon gear. Without a white belt, would the neon pop as much as it should? What shoes was he supposed to wear? Does this headband make his arm look too muscular? These are all issues Cena spent hours dealing with.

Maybe showing up on time should be a prerequisite for a wrestler of John Cena's caliber. We can't keep putting cameras out in the parking lot.

And one for some random thoughts:

- Randy Orton is still one of the weakest lead heels I've seen in wrestling in a long time. He has his WWE World Heavyweight Championship and not much else. He is The Authority's champion, but they don't even like him. I'm not about changing the title before WrestleMania too often, but Orton going into WrestleMania as champion does not sound compelling.

- Batista really looked ridiculous. I know professional wrestling is all about looking kind of silly, but painted on ultra skinny jeans and a white track jacket took it too far. Batista seems like he's trying to prove how young he is. Sadly, Batista is not young.

- The opening segment was all kind of a jumble. Triple H and Stephanie yelled at Randy Orton, then Batista randomly appeared with little fanfare. The crowd responded well, but why not build up to the big moment?

- Unsurprisingly the six man tag on this show was great. Six man tag matches have rocked WWE for about a year now. I'm still not tired of them.

- It's crazy what happens when Daniel Bryan is given the opportunity to get angry and talk. His explanation was flimsy, but like so many moments in wrestling history, Bryan being crazy over covers up a whole lot of mistakes.

- Bryan vs. Bray Wyatt at Royal Rumble is as logical a match as we're going to get from the two of them. This story being quickly abandoned was probably the right option, even if the storytelling will be odd for a couple weeks.

- R-Truth on commentary? That's the part where I hit fast-forward.

- Consequences Creed is disappointed in Xavier Woods' WWE push.

- Kane and C.M. Punk's promo segment reminded me to never want a Kane vs. Punk feud to happen at a high level in WWE.

- I'm a fan of Punk entering at number one in the Royal Rumble match. It ensures an entertaining first act of the Rumble and it could mean more. I'm predicting Punk to make the final four, so I see him doing a lot.

- At least now I can stop imagining what a Punk vs. Billy Gunn match would be like. Seriously, Gunn didn't look bad in his loss to Punk, but I'm already fairly bored of the New Age Outlaws. I hope the Rumble is the end of their run.

- Has Billy Gunn washed his boots since 2002? They were terribly dirty.

- How have 62% of Rumble winners gone on to win a Championship at WrestleMania in the last decade? A decade is ten years and in the last ten years only ten men have won the Rumble. The Rumble by the Numbers video package is a house of lies.

- Alberto Del Rio vs. Rey Mysterio was inoffensive and unexciting. It was just kind of there.

- Del Rio being attacked by Batista made sense, even if it spoiled what would have been an okay moment at the Rumble on Sunday.

- Batista's pants were too tight to sit out for the Batista Bomb. Maybe Big Dave should have contemplated a slim fit instead of super skinny jeans.

- Seeing Brock Lesnar back down from Big Show wasn't compelling for me. Big Show is a large man who wore a diaper a few weeks ago and knocks out old men randomly. Brock is a beast who cannot get the senior discount at Denny's. I'm prettying sure Show can't knock out anyone under 55.

- Brock Lesnar seriously had an issue with the announcer's table. Way to show it what a beast you are, Brock!

- Is this A.J. Lee vs. Total Divas thing exciting for anyone? It's just kind of there.

- The Uso's vs. Rowan and Harper was a fun tag match, but it was basically used as the backdrop for Bray Wyatt's promo and Daniel Bryan's run in.

- Did anyone else notice how Bryan's reactions were bigger than anything else on the show, including Batista's two appearances?

- Kofi Kingston and Randy Orton didn't have the time to have a three hour match like last week. This was a good thing. Their match was just kind of there, because the parking lot camera was the real main event star.

- Seriously, Kofi Kingston was robbed by John Cena.

This show didn't get my blood boiling for the Rumble. I didn't leave this show eager to watch Sunday, which is bad. Something isn't quite clicking for this WrestleMania season. There are a ton of pieces in play, but not enough seems obvious, or even planned. WWE still has time to rescue 'Mania, but I'm not sure the Rumble is salvageable for most.

So, what did you think of the show? Agree? Disagree? Either way, feel free to email me at itswilltime@gmail.com or to follow me and interact on twitter at twitter.com/itswilltime.

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